


Wild Fire

by ismellitblue



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Azula Has Problems, BAMF Azula, Blood, Comfort/Angst, Drugging, Gen, Gore, Hallucinations, Hurt, Mental Breakdown, Mental Illness, Other, bamf zuko, mental health
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:09:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22291609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ismellitblue/pseuds/ismellitblue
Summary: At her lowest point,Azula is given a gift by Agni.
Relationships: Azula & Zuko, Zuko & Iroh, Zuko & Katara, the gaang - Relationship
Comments: 3
Kudos: 107





	Wild Fire

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own ATLA.

“The princess has escaped!”The alarm sounded just before dawn, and the palace erupted.

It had been years since princess Azula had tried anything, and after two years being catatonic, no one had expected such a stunt from her.The nurse responsible for her upkeep hadn’t even seen the attack coming.

From her spot in the rafters Azula smirked,watching as the useless peasants ran around like headless ostrich-horses.Next to her, mother watched,crying quietly,Azula’d considered setting her alight, but had decided escape was an easier option,besides after months of not seeing sunlight,her flames were… _limited_.

Zuzu and his group of idiots passed right below her,the wooden rafters shaking slightly as the blind one used her earthbending.There was a single breathless moment where the blind girl looked up and Azula thought she’d been caught.She didn’t dare move,her weight balanced evenly,her fire,weak as it was,evened out to make sure Zuzu didn’t track her heat signature.The moment passed quickly, and the group resumed walking, and it was only then that Azula moved, sticking to the wooden beams, until she finally leapt onto the trees just outside the palace.

She was in no shape to be doing such strenuous activity, but freedom was a powerful motivator,and Azula moved from tree to tree,lacking Ty Lee’s natural grace,but still getting the job done.

When she finally felt she’d gone far enough to leave the earthbender’s range,she let herself slide down,the descent scraping her fingertips(the first thing she’d do once she was strong enough to usurp the throne would be to personally execute the peasants that’d cut her nails).

She ran her bloody hands over her hair,coming away with chunks of the knotted stuff.Instinct wanted her to throw it away and wipe the blood away on her dirty clothes,but logic had her heading for the waterfall she could hear nearby.

***

The blood came away easily enough, and when she dunked her head into the cool water,she watched bits of debris and hair float away.

Pulling out,she took a deep breath, the last rays of sunlight adding to her inner fire.She soaked it in,tilting her head up. She looked back at the now still water,and for the first time in three years Azula got a look at herself.

Her hair was a mess, there were bags under her eyes and even for a firebender,she was too pale.She grabbed her wild mane, trying to make it presentable.She was still struggling with trying to get it into a braid when a figure sat down beside her,their face also reflected in the water.

Azula didn’t bother turning to face her.

“Come to gloat have we mother?”Ursa, dressed in fine robes,not a hair out of place, her lipstick unmarred,skin healthy, _smiled_ , a warm and bright thing,like she actually meant it.

“Is it wrong for a mother to wish to see her child?”The sincerity in her tone had Azula sending a jet of blue flame at her.As always, mother was unbothered by her robes catching fire.

“As you can see, your little monster hasn’t sprouted horns-now go!”And just like that Azula was alone once more.

***

“ _Come any closer, and I’ll kill you,”_ Lightning danced at Azula’s fingertips as she watched the creature before her,it’s sinuous body warping midair,rows of teeth glinting along its belly.It was nothing more than shadow and light, pitch black ink with bubbling skin moving across the air.The first time she’d seen it, she’d set the royal guards on fire, hoping to use them as bait while she got away.

She’d managed to down fifteen before Uncle and Zuzu had intervened, restraining her and leaving her to spend hours tied down,staring at the creature as it moved in endless loops above her-too drugged to defend herself.

Just like with all their other encounters it said nothing.Azula had never seen its eyes but she still felt them on her, searching.Back at the palace, it’d had the upper hand, but out in the forest,there was no one holding her back.

Lighting left her hand , jagged and cold,carving through her veins instead of flowing freely like it used to.She never even got a chance to see it hit its target,no sooner had the last spark faded from her finger tips she was wrenched off her feet and thrown straight into the water.She rose up with a scream,the water coming up to her chest, and for the first time she noticed the jutting rocks surrounding the waterfall.

 _Of course_ , small river rocks exploded when energized,but giant ones threw the energy right back-she’d been lucky not to be crushed by the repulsion.And to make matters worse,the creature was gone,probably laughing at her in some dark crevice.

She made to get out,the water dragging her down,but then she noticed the pebbles at the edge vibrating in a way that meant one of two things.

Either earthbenders or komodo-rhino.

Neither outcome bode well for her, and not trusting herself to hold her breath for long,she dived into the water spray, and immediately fell through, landing on solid rock.

If it was the blind earthbender,then Azula’s day out was most probably over(not that she’d go down without a fight), but for once,the world wasn’t out to get her.She listened as the fire nation soldiers moved around,looking for clues.

“She probably moved down river, she’s weak, if we don’t find her she probably won’t make it through the night,”Azula bristled at that,but kept herself in check,and waited for them to leave.

***

The plan had been to start moving as soon as the soldiers left, but then when she’d tried to stand her legs wouldn’t move,so for a while she’d lain on the watery cave floor,feeling her joints creak.Hours later,still unable to stand she’d started crawling-the pride of the firenation crawling,father would have disowned her on sight.A thin stream of blue fire from her lips lit her way, and she went deeper.

Cold stone gave way to brittle bones as she moved, and she caught sight of dark red rags on all the skeletons.

Why would the fire nation soldiers be fighting one another?Insubordination? Traitors?She came up with possible scenarios as she crawled,taking her mind off the fact that she’d most likely be the latest addition to the pile, it would still be better than dying in the palace with her brother’s concern-the fact that it was genuine made it worse-why couldn’t he shed fake tears like normal people.

Zuzu was always such bleeding hear-

A glint in the darkness caught her eye,causing the flame between her lips to sputter before regaining its form.

Gold.

It had been so long since Azula had seen the colour, Zuzu and his band of koala-pigs had robbed her of everything,taking her crown too.With the last of her strength she crawled towards the glinting ornament, and pried it from the bones of a corpse wearing old fire sage robes.

Ignoring the way the whole skeleton collapsed in on itself,she took in her price.

An egg?A big one to be sure, but still an egg.When she shook it, it felt solid.Who created an egg made of gold?Looking around at the dead bodies around her, she decided she didn’t care,they were all dead, so that meant the egg was hers now.

A gift fit for royalty.

Finally succumbing to her exhaustion she curled around it,letting her flame go out as she went to sleep, unconsciously sharing what little heat she had left with her finding.She slipped closer to the line between the living and spirit world without realizing, her body too weak and her soul too tired to fight.

But at the last moment,right before she crossed over,the golden egg sparked, giving her the boost she needed to stay tethered, and in the darkness of the cave the egg glowed, and inside it,the silhouette of a baby dragon could be seen.


End file.
